Well, that’s that! It’s the tail end of the year now and it’s safe to say it was a wild one. While much of the world slowed down, the footwear industry kept pumping out hit after hit seemingly every week. So to wrap everything up, we’ve spent some time looking at the best and worst in the game starting off with the SoleSavy team’s favorite sneakers of the year and followed by our first Sneaker Awards. Now it’s finally time to show off what you – the community – thought about the year in footwear. After a week of voting from our over 3000 SoleSavy members, the results are in. Here are your picks for the top five sneakers of 2020.
#5 Off-White x Air Jordan 5 “Black”
It probably isn’t that controversial to say that after the runaway success of Virgil Abloh’s THE TEN collection with Nike back in 2017 that he firmly cemented himself as the bonafide “It” designer of the moment. The Off-White founder and current artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear has not slowed down in the years since and is currently on track to define the 2020s as much as he did in the late 2010s. The “Black” colorway of his 2020 Air Jordan 5 collab was his first Jordan collab that wasn’t an Air Jordan 1 and it quickly took the world by storm. Its ripstop upper, vintage soles, and translucent “holes” officially marked the beginning of a new era of Abloh’s design language that moved away from deconstruction and towards a headier, more post-modern approach to design. The product’s design is informed by its technology and vice versa. Abloh describes it best as follows:
“I’m still enamored by the idea of Nike Air. Nike did a survey around the world, and in some places, people had the impression that Nike Air is more pure than actual air. I came up with this new language, which is having these holes through everything… You know, the same air that’s outside is in the product. So that’s why there are holes in the [Jordan 5] box, too.”
#4 Air Jordan 1 High “Dark Mocha”
Jordan Brand continues to prove that it doesn’t need collaborations or marketing stunts anymore to ensure a Jordan 1 would sell out – though it always helps. When images of these first leaked online there was much talk of them being “The Poor Man’s Cactus Jack 1s” or “Tasteful Travis Scotts” and so on and so forth. But once official images came out it was clear that the king of sneaker silhouettes could do no wrong if it just drops another minimalistic black-toe. Whether you lusted after these because that mocha suede really does ease the L of the elusive La Flame joints or because you just wanted a pair of Js that went with everything, it’s easy to see why the “Dark Mocha” AJ1s were our members’ favorite AJ 1 of the year. Devoid of the money-making thunderbolt logo, the Fragment AJ1 was a colorway that works just as well as your OG Black Toes or the cool grey Barons. Making a dark brown version of that? It’s a no-brainer.
#3 Ben & Jerry’s x Nike SB Dunk Low “Chunky Dunky”
Rivaled only by the faux-fur clad Grateful Dead Dunks, the Ben & Jerry’s x Nike SB Dunk Low “Chunky Dunky” was the Swoosh’s most ridiculous shoe of 2020 by a long shot. The visual overload that was this sneaker brought to mind the so-called “Golden Era” of Nike SBs where designers, shops, skaters, and all creatives alike used the Dunk as the canvas for incredibly creative ventures. When these finally released – in extremely limited quantities, mind you – they took the sneaker world by storm. Whether you loved them or loved to hate them, the conversations it started were everywhere. With its oft-kilter design taking center stage, it’s impossible to deny that the “Chunky Dunky” marked a genuine turning point in Dunk’s revival in 2020. While it’s too soon to tell what Nike SB will bring to the table in 2021, you can all but guarantee that they’ll do their best to match or even surpass the visual overload of their Ben & Jerry’s flavor.
#2 Off-White x Air Jordan 4 “Sail”
Sometimes less is more. For many, the flair of earlier Off-White x Nike/Jordan collabs were just too loud for people. Following the aforementioned AJ5, Abloh’s work on the third Jordan silhouette appealed to audiences who might have never messed with the defacto “hypebeast” collaborations of the last few years. With its slimmer build, exposed stitching, and creamy tones abound the Off-White x Air Jordan 4 “Sail” looks more like a piece of minimalist, contemporary art than streetwear. While there was no doubt one of Virgil’s designs was going to land in our top five or even top three, it was surprising to see that this beat out the AJ5 and all other Off-White releases. SoleSavy continues to go against the grain.
#1 Union x Air Jordan 4 “Guava Ice”
“What color is an orange?”
With that simple question (and some clever last-minute website domain changes) Union pulled off the best online sneaker release of the whole year. While most of us were stuck at home, still spending our disposable income on kicks we won’t get much wear out of in 2020, the online release of the latest Union x Jordan Brand collection was just what the game needed. Almost all pairs were scooped by manual users due to the great bot protection, with hundreds of pairs of each colorway going to SoleSavy members alone.
Union LA’s current owner Chris Gibbs truly struck gold with his boutique’s 2018 Air Jordan 1 High collab, but this release cemented him as a true designer for the people. By stacking two layers of suede on top of each other, the Union AJ4’s upper was elevated to a luxurious level. The mix of primary colors next to pale pinks and sleek black hasn’t ever been executed this well. Extra storytelling elements further added to the shoe’s appeal with things like the classic Michael Jordan photography used throughout the collection and the adjustable, folded tongue inspired by the way Gibbs wore his AJ4s back in the day. At first, leaked images of these turned people off but this just goes to show you should never judge a book by its (very lo-fi) cover. Leaked images almost never represent the final product.
Regarding the initial hate over the shoes, Gibbs told GQ:
“When photos [of the shoes] leaked, I went on all the different blogs and we were getting obliterated. So that was tough. … The first five shoes are probably the most coveted designs of the 20th century. And people have grown up with those and they don’t want people messing with them … How can you fix perfection? But I’m also like, “Well, if I’m doing a collaborative design, I want to bring my view to things.” And with that tongue in particular, I’m being honest, I would fold that tongue over and tie it down, like kind of choke it with the lace, because it was too high for the way I like to wear my shoes. That’s a very personal touch. We’re trying to have some fun. We’re trying to do something different. We’re trying to come with our own point of view.”
It’s because of all those personal touches that Union’s AJ4, in particular, the Union-exclusive “Guava Ice” colorway, was the sneaker that stole most of our members’ hearts. More and more shops have been taking a page from Union’s playbook and getting sneakers onto the feet of those people who really want them, not the resellers. And that’s always been the SoleSavy way.
Here’s to a happy and healthy 2021 everyone!
Images 1, 4, & 5 via @dean.hilario / Sole Savy Inc
Image 2 via Sean Go
Image 3 via Nike / Ben & Jerry’s
